America's Got Talent: No Ishaara? No Pam Martin's Top Dog?

The final entrants to join the America's Got Talent season 4 top 20 were named last night, and it just proves that good storylines really go the distance on the NBC talent show (and that people actually listen to the judges). That, and cute kids. The five acts that advanced from last night's episode include kid ballroom dancing couple Eric and Rickie, Seattle singing sisters EriAm Sisters, percussive quartet Recycled Percussion, opera singer cum cancer survivor Barbara Padilla, and struggling singer and guitarist Drew Stevyns.

The good thing was there were no downright ill-chosen acts on last night's results show. On the other hand, there are more acts that should've gone through, if they weren't in a particularly competitive group, that is. Bollywood dancing college students Ishaara, for instance, was described by judge Piers Morgan as one of the best dancers this year, while Pam Martin's Top Dog was probably a victim of an anti-dog backlash after Tony Hoard & Rory made it through.

As for the qualifiers, everything looks pretty much deserved.

1. Erik and Rickie

How can you not fall in love with these kids? Asked what they'll do with the million bucks, Rickie said she'd help his great grandparents move to Seattle and maybe buy a phone for her parents, while Erik said he'll treat his family to an Italian vacation and find out what it's like to drive a Ferrari. How cute, right? After their performance, Nick asked Erik how fun were they having. He answered, "More than we can think of."

2. The EriAm Sisters

How about it, more kids. "The next Destiny's Child" sang and dance. Are they the best? Probably not. But they got through to the semifinals. No additional comments.

3. Recycled Percussion

Recycled Percussion showed us that in order to advance, acts need to do something else and something more (taking notes, African High Flyers?).

4. Barbara Padilla

Really, no surprise there. Barbara Padilla didn't only have a good storyline (nice mum, survived cancer, etc), she made opera accessible and almost pop. Her performance didn't have the stiff upper lip that most opera songs are associated with. It's exciting how far Barbara will go.

5. Drew Stevyns

Yet perhaps the most startling choice was singer-guitarist Drew Stevyns. It's almost safe to say that Drew didn't have the best voice among the show's singers. However, all three judges were all praises for him and he went through convincingly. Yet just like Piers, America probably saw the hunger and sincerity in Drew's eyes when he performed The Fray's How to Save a Life. I'm also betting a lot of Grey's Anatomy fans voted for him.